Today, the nonpartisan leadership of Fiorello LaGuardia is welcomed

My earliest memory of the legacy of Fiorello LaGuardia was during my senior year of high school, when my English teacher led my class on a train ride from St. Louis to the Shubert Theater in Chicago, where we were to see the Broadway musical production of “Fiorello.” (You can still watch one of the most entertaining numbers, “Politics and Poker,” on the Internet.) From the moment this sensitive boy saw the play, LaGuardia became one of my favorite public servants in American history.

LaGuardia was a highly respected politician, but he never cared for that word, politician, calling himself a public servant. A new book about LaGuardia’s impact on American politics by Terry Golway underscores LaGuardia’s disdain for politics by using one of Fiorello’s famous quotes, “‘I Never Did Like Politics’: How Fiorella LaGuardia Became America’s Mayor, and Why He Still Matters.”

LaGuardia’s record as a congressman and later mayor of New York was impeccable. He never made a dime from the jobs he held, something recently convicted Sens. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey, and Donald Trump would be hard-pressed to claim, given Trump’s family members feasted at the public trough when he was president.

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LaGuardia is famous for many things, but none is more applicable to Boise than the claim that “there is no Republican or Democratic way to clean the streets.” But don’t tell that to some Republican legislators in Idaho who want to inject partisanship into the Ada County Highway District (ACHD).

Rep. Josh Tanner, R-Eagle, introduced a bill this past legislative session that would require candidates to run under a partisan label, a departure from the nonpartisan nature of ACHD’s current elections. The bill also adds two commissioners to ACHD and forces the entire board to run for reelection in 2024, ending half of the board’s remaining terms.

The bill gives the Ada County Commissioners the power to draw district lines for ACHD members, a brazen attempt by Republicans to gain partisan control over ACHD. The bill did not make it through the legislative process, but it is likely to be revived by the same zealots who plan to encroach on Boise’s more moderate brand of politics.

There was a significant municipal reform movement during the Progressive Era in the early 20th century to remove partisan labels from local offices to counter the corruption and venality of the party bosses in charge of local governments. Those reforms have worked well for most local governments over the years, and Boise certainly doesn’t need to buck the trend that has been going on for at least a century.

If the state legislature were to make any changes to the ACHD, they would have to disband it and turn over the maintenance of city streets to the city, where it is in most municipalities in America. But don’t bet on that happening anytime soon. Republicans from Governor Little on down will tell you what a great practice our form of city government is, even though it’s nearly impossible to find any other city that doesn’t have control over its own streets. The partisan ambitions of Republicans in the legislature know no bounds.

Given how hyper-partisan our politics have become, it’s refreshing to read about LaGuardia’s experience. He served in Congress as a Republican from 1916 to 1920 and then, after serving as a pilot in World War I, from 1922 to 1930. He then served as mayor of New York City from 1934 to 1946, when author Terry Golway explained how Republican LaGuardia got along well with Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt and had easy access to the Oval Office, which he used to secure federal funding for NYC projects, including the airport that is named after him to this day.

We’re a long way from that kind of bipartisanship, whether it’s the United States Congress or the state legislature in Idaho.

LaGuardia was the genuine article and should serve as a model civil servant today for politicians who have lost sight of who they represent. Golway’s biography reminds us that even those without the vote were given representation by LaGuardia.

During his mayoralty, the delivery boys who delivered the newspapers to the reading public walked off the job, and LaGuardia was concerned about the children who followed the comics, so he took it upon himself to read the comics to New Yorkers on the radio during the strike. LaGuardia had already announced that he would not run for office, so this was not a political stunt to impress voters in the upcoming election. He just cared. He was speaking out on behalf of children who could not read Dick Tracy or Little Orphan Annie.

Golway claims that “Uncle Fiorello,” as he was called by the New York Times, is remembered in American folklore as a public servant who entertained children and reminded his constituents that he cared about the ordinary people of New York City. Golway tells the reader in his acknowledgments that his editor felt that LaGuardia was as relevant today as it was three-quarters of a century ago. It is hard to disagree once we read about this remarkable public servant.

Today our politics has become mean and brutal with too many people seeking office out of revenge and acquittal for an ill-conceived mistake with no basis. Since the assassination attempt on Trump there have been renewed calls for our government officials and those who challenge them to turn down the volume and stop the ad hominem attacks on government officials.

There must be a better way to engage in our public discourse than the kind of vicious, often false accusations leveled against those who serve us. LaGuardia is the perfect embodiment of integrity and compassion in public service and let us hope his example can be replicated in today’s political arena. It is time to turn a new page in this chapter of American history and pay more attention to the ways of LaGuardia when it comes to how best to serve the American people.

Bob Kustra was president of Boise State University from 2003 to 2018. He hosts Readers Corner on Boise State Public Radio and writes a biweekly column for the Idaho Statesman. He served two terms as lieutenant governor of Illinois and 10 years as a state legislator.